Hostess Brands Inc. has added a giant Twinkie to its instore bakery line.
The 17-ounce Twinkie is now being sold to Kansas City, Missouri-based Hostess’s instore grocery customers, William Toler, the company’s CEO and president, said Sept. 6 at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference in Boston.
“Now that’s a big Twinkie,” Toler said, echoing a famous line from Ghostbusters. “(It’s) now in a format that we think is going to be quite interesting at retail.”
At the conference, Toler and C. Dean Metropoulos, Hostess’s executive chairman, expressed optimism about the entire instore bakery category for Hostess. In March, the company announced the launch of the Hostess Bake Shop line of products for instore.
Metropoulos said that while instore has its challenges, it should be a strong growth category for Hostess.
“We learned that a brand may not have quite the momentum that we would like to think Hostess would have, but I think it’s a much more hearty, organic place to sell, and I think we’re going to see that as a growing opportunity in our focus as we go forward,” he said.
Instore bakery is an $8 billion category that is growing faster than the sweet baked goods category in the packaged cake section of the grocery store, Toler said.
Other products in Hostess’s instore Bake Shop line include a Hostess Cupcake cookie, triple-dipped Ding Dongs and decorated Twinkies.